Disability issues in French and European Overseas Territories
Les enjeux du handicap dans les Outre-Mer français et européens
Published on Friday, July 04, 2025
Abstract
The situation of people with disabilities is specific in French or European overseas areas (the Azores, Aruba, Bermuda...). Several phenomena characterize them (marginality on several scales, insularity possibly, particular legislation, economic situation). Moreover, each territory has specificities of the same order. And it can itself show strong internal variations (French Polynesia, Guyana, Bermuda) depending on the distance from the local center, isolation or different forms of marginality (which do not include only isolation or remoteness, but a social margin). In these conditions, people live situations very different from those of the metropolitan areas, with care, views on otherness, solidarities... sometimes far removed from the metropolitan realities. However, on this subject, knowledge is often lacking.
Announcement
Argument
Today, the inclusion of people with disabilities is a major issue of social justice and respect for fundamental rights. Affirmed by international texts such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006), this universal ambition nevertheless comes up against unequal realities, which are particularly visible in the overseas territories. While social science research on disability has increased in recent years, there is still very little research specifically on overseas France, as recently highlighted by the French Senate’s overseas delegation (2024–25). What's more, access to basic data in the field of disability remains limited in these territories, complicating a detailed analysis of local realities, an observation already made by Arthur Guénat in 2012.
In addition to this lack of information, there are major disparities in the organisation of support systems for people with disabilities, linked to the varied legal status of the overseas territories (Joyau, 2020). These differences exacerbate inequalities in access to social rights, both between each of these territories and between overseas France and mainland France (François-Lubin, 2020). In this context, the voluntary sector often plays an essential role in supporting people with disabilities. The example of Guadeloupe, analysed by Gaël Villoing, Sébastien Ruffié and Sylvain Ferez (2016), is particularly enlightening: as early as the 1980s, self-managed associations of people with disabilities emerged there, combining social demands and assertion of identity in a post-colonial dynamic.
Analysing the specific features of disability in overseas France raises fundamental questions about the relevance of the dominant models of support and inclusion. Anthropological studies of overseas societies (Brandibas, 2010; Gardou, 2010; Godin, 2010) reveal conceptions of the body, vulnerability and dependency, and even relationships to space, that differ greatly from those that predominate in western, metropolitan societies. These local conceptions of disability call for us to look beyond conventional analytical frameworks and question the ability of metropolitan social policies to respond effectively to the specific needs of these areas. Global South Disability Studies (Grech and Soldatic, 2016; Roy, 2024), which advocate the recognition of forms of citizenship and participation specific to non-Western local contexts, could shed valuable light on this debate by offering theoretical tools for deconstructing Western-centric visions of disability.
As part of this international study day devoted to disability in overseas France, we are inviting critical, comparative and empirical contributions on how disability is experienced, represented, spatially situated and supported in overseas contexts.
In terms of scope, while our starting point is the French Overseas Territories, we welcome work on any peripheral area associated with the European continent, regardless of its status as an Outermost Region (ORs)[1] or Overseas Country and Territory (OCTs)[2]; research on British Overseas Territories[3] will also be considered.
Proposals may be drawn from a variety of social science disciplines (geography, sociology, anthropology, political science, law, history, education sciences, etc.), with an interdisciplinary, open and reflective approach. Contributions and testimonies from stakeholders (association leaders, social workers, elected representatives, etc.) are also welcome.
Some possible areas for discussion
- How do overseas contexts transform conceptions of disability, autonomy and support? This includes spatial logics (distance, peripheries, margins, scales).
- What local forms of mobilisation, solidarity or institutional innovation are emerging around disability in overseas France? This approach includes public, private, associative and community dimensions, as well as geographical approaches where necessary.
- How are global models of inclusion and support for disability being reappropriated, adapted or challenged in these specific contexts? How do they reshape social space, particularly in their relationship with politics?
Submission guidelines
Proposals for papers must include
- Title and abstract (2000 characters)
- 3 to 5 keywords
- A short biography of the author(s) (500 characters per person)
- Indication of whether the paper is to be presented face-to-face or remotely
Papers must be submitted to the organisers by 21 July 2025
- Franck Chignier-Ribloulon : Franck.CHIGNIER-RIBOULON@uca.fr
- Meddy Escuriet : mescuriet@gmail.com
- Mauricette Fournier : Mauricette.FOURNIER@uca.fr
The conference will be held at the Maison des Sciences Humaines in Clermont-Ferrand and at the Institut d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes du Développement des Territoires (IADT). For those unable to attend in person, remote presentations will also be available.
Indicative bibliography
Brandibas, J. (2010). 13. À l'île de La Réunion, quand le malheur vient à poindre. Dans C. Gardou Le handicap au risque des cultures : Variations anthropologiques (p. 275-283). érès. https://doi.org/10.3917/eres.gardo.2010.01.0275.
François-Lubin, B. (2020). Le droit à compensation du handicap aux Antilles : Quelle effectivité ?, In Arentsen M-F et Faberon F, Regards croisés sur le handicap en contexte francophone, Presses universitaires Blaise Pascal, p.295-310
Villoing, G., Ruffié, S. et Ferez, S. (2016). Care en milieu postcolonial : émancipation et revendication identitaire des personnes handicapées en Guadeloupe. Alter: European Journal of Disability Research / Revue européenne de recherche sur le handicap, 10 (1), pp.54-66.
Gardou, C. (2010). 2. Aux îles Marquises, les puissances de l'invisible. Dans C. Gardou Le handicap au risque des cultures : Variations anthropologiques (p. 49-74). érès. https://doi.org/10.3917/eres.gardo.2010.01.0049.
Godin, P. (2010). 1. En pays kanak, des malheurs et des hommes. Dans C. Gardou Le handicap au risque des cultures : Variations anthropologiques (p. 25-48). érès. https://doi.org/10.3917/eres.gardo.2010.01.0025.
Grech, S. et Soldatic, K. (2016). Disability in the Global South : The Critical Handbook. Springer, series International Perspectives on Social Policy, Administration and Practice https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42488-0
Guénat, A. (2012). Nature et handicap à la Réunion : Le défi d’une accessibilité pour tous [Phdthesis, Géographie, Université de la Réunion]. https://theses.hal.science/tel-01053818
Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme, Convention relative aux droits des personnes handicapées. (s. d.). Consulté 28 avril 2025, à l’adresse https://www.ohchr.org/fr/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities
Joyau, M. (2020). Handicap et outre-mer français. In Arentsen M-F et Faberon F., Regards croisés sur le handicap en contexte francophone « , Presses universitaires Blaise Pascal, p.283-294
Roy, A. (2024). Decolonizing Disability Studies : Identities, Epistemologies and Global South Perspectives. The Creative Launcher, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 70-81. doi:10.53032/tcl.2024.9.6.07.
Sénat (2023). Travaux de la délégation sénatoriale d’outre-mer/ La politique handicap outre-mer, https://www.senat.fr/travaux-parlementaires/office-et-delegations/delegation-senatoriale-aux-outre-mer/la-politique-du-handicap-outre-mer.html
Notes
[1] Martinique, Mayotte, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion and Saint-Martin for France; Madeira and the Azores for Portugal; the Canary Islands for Spain.
[2] For France: New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Wallis and Futuna, Saint-Barthélemy. For Denmark: Greenland. For the Netherlands: Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint-Eustache and Sint-Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of Saint-Martin).
[3] Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, the British Antarctic Territory, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Subjects
- Geography (Main category)
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Social anthropology
- Society > Sociology > Urban sociology
- Mind and language > Representation > Cultural identities
- Society > Sociology > Sociology of health
- Society > Political studies > Governance and public policies
- Society > Sociology > Economic sociology
Places
- MSH et IADT - 4 rue Ledru
Clermont-Ferrand, France (63)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Monday, July 21, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- handicap, outremer, inclusion - disability, overseas, inclusion
Contact(s)
- mauricette fournier
courriel : mauricette [dot] fournier [at] uca [dot] fr - franck chignier-riboulon
courriel : franck [dot] chignier-riboulon [at] uca [dot] fr - meddy escuriet
courriel : mescuriet [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- franck chignier-riboulon
courriel : franck [dot] chignier-riboulon [at] uca [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Disability issues in French and European Overseas Territories », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Friday, July 04, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/14a3b
